There But for the Grace of God
by Tanba Josav
Summary: So many things could have gone wrong in that diner, what if something had? How would Jacob have coped?


Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Eleventh Hour, if I did the show would still be on air. This is a labour of love, so please don't sue.

Thanks: goes out to Numbat for her encouragement and betawork and EHfan for fixing all my Australian-isms into American ones.

* * *

One second, one moment of inattention changed his life forever.

'Forgive me.'

Sophia's words barely registered; no it was Rachel's reaction, her cry of pain, and the blood. All that blood suddenly appearing as if from nowhere.

Jacob Hood was used to dealing with high pressure situations, after all that was one of the reasons why the FBI had him on their payroll. But this time it was different, this time it was happening to someone he knew. Someone he liked, maybe too much for his own good.

'Hold on, hold on,' Hood stood up, looking around for something, anything that might stop the bleeding. Rummaging through some left over rubbish in the abandoned diner he couldn't help but listen to that small rational voice inside his head. _This is very unhygienic. Anything you use here could lead to sepsis, or worse, is this such a good idea, Jacob?_

Grabbing some napkins and an old dish rag he hurried back to Rachel's side.

'Its okay, it's okay,' wrapping up her leg Hood wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure Rachel or himself.

'We need an ambulance,' Rachel gasped.

Jacob Hood looked up at Rachel. 'She's taken the phone.' How could he have been so stupid? Yes, let the crazy drugged up woman have the only phone for miles. There was no way she would do something crazy like rip the crossbow bolt right out of Rachel's leg then take off in the only car. If only he had listened to Felix when the young agent had wanted to leave Hood with an escape option, but Jacob was convinced that Deputy Director Wynne would be able to track them through the GPS that was in all Federal cars. Instead Jacob had gone out of his way to trick the FBI with a false lead, counting on them to triangulate his location from his cell phone as a backup plan in case things didn't work out exactly as he hoped. But now it looked like his plan was coming back to bite him in the ass.

_Think, Jacob, think, she's dying and it's all your fault!_

Maybe there was something outside, anything that might help. Hood stood up and headed for the door.

'Where are you going?' Rachel asked.

Just hearing the pain in her voice was almost enough to bring Jacob back to Rachel's side, but he had to be strong for both of them.

A proper FBI agent would have investigated the entire area before letting anything as harebrained as this go ahead, but Hood wasn't FBI, he only worked for them, and he could only hope that something would turn up. That his Super Scientist luck, as Rachel sometimes called it, wouldn't abandon him. And there it was, as Jacob stopped outside the door and looked around he saw it, an old abandoned truck just sitting there waiting.

'Yes,' he breathed.

It didn't look like much, in fact it looked like it was only being held together with rust and wire, but at that moment it was the most magnificent machine Jacob had ever seen.

Pulling the heavy door open Jacob clambered inside. The first thing that caught his attention was the screwdriver shoved into the ignition.

'Huh,' he said. 'At least I don't have to try hotwiring it.'

This was just as well, since the sum total of Jacob's hotwiring knowledge consisted of what he had seen in the movies. The second thing Jacob noticed was Rachel's blood covering his hands. He just sat there staring at them for almost a minute before swallowing heavily. He could fix this, he could make things better. Just start the truck, pull it over to the diner and get Rachel to a hospital. Grabbing the screwdriver he gave it an experimental twist. There was a clunking sound that seemed to come from the front of the truck, but nothing else happened. Maybe he had turned the damn thing the wrong way. Twisting it in the other direction Jacob tried again, this time there wasn't even the clunk sound.

'No, no, this can't be happening.'

Jacob found the lever that released the hood and hurried to the front of the truck. Grunting with the effort he lifted the heavy slab of metal and looked inside. Jacob was the first to admit that when it came to machinery clueless would be an improvement on his current knowledge. Still the large amount of rat's droppings scattered about the engine and the gnawed look of the wiring that was visible suggested, even to him, that the chances of this truck ever moving sometime soon were very slim.

'No,' he slammed down the hood, finally finding some outlet for all his building frustration, 'NO!'

'Hood!'

The truck was a dead end but there had to be a way, some solution to fix, some discovery to find. Something that would lead Jacob to saving Rachel's life. He hurried back into the diner.

'Rachel,' he knelt next to the wounded woman, 'are you okay?'

'I heard a loud noise, how can I protect you when you're outside and I'm in here?'

Jacob had to smile, even now scared and badly hurt Rachel Young was still trying to be his handler. 'Let me worry about that, okay?'

What small burst of adrenaline rush that Rachel was experiencing was fading fast. She began to slump back against the seat.

'Rachel, stay with me.' Jacob rose and sat behind Rachel, letting her rest against him.

'I'm tired, Hood.' Rachel muttered.

'Stay awake,' Jacob brushed some of her hair away from her face.

'I'm doing the best I can.'

'We need to get you to a hospital, Rachel.'

'No car?'

'No,' Jacob let all his frustrations colour that one word.

'What about a motorbike, or an old school bus, hang glider, pogo stick? I'd even let you drive.'

Jacob blinked back tears. There had to be a way. 'It's only five miles to the next town,' he began nodding as he calculated the distance in his head. 'Rachel, we could do this, I could carry you.'

'Hood, you can't carry me.'

Standing up Jacob pulled Rachel towards him, gently turning her around, so that her injured leg wouldn't be caught between them. Bending slightly he slipped his left arm under her legs and hoisted her into his arms.

'Hood!' Rachel's shock and indignation made her voice rise in pitch slightly. 'Put me down right now!'

'Its only five miles.' He reminded her.

'Right now, it's more like five hundred!'

Ignoring her protests Jacob took Rachel out of that damned diner and began walking down the long isolated driveway towards the nearest road. It was hard to believe that he had deliberately led Sophia and Rachel here, to the middle of nowhere. It had been his big plan, separate them from any FBI tail and talk Sophia into surrendering. A sensible plan, a methodical one, and the kind of plan you'd expect from a scientist who deep down believed in humanity's better nature. And now that altruistic plan was killing Rachel.

'Damn you, Hood, what are you doing? Do you seriously think you can carry me the whole way?'

'Rachel, Rachel, we can do this okay?' Jacob tried to ignore the slight breathlessness in his voice. 'Please, let me do this.'

'Put me down, Hood,' Rachel's voice wavered, 'I need you to, I can't –'

'Just hold on.' Jacob moved Rachel off the road. He knelt down and placed her gently under a large old shady tree. 'What is it?'

Rachel had been clutching at her leg and when she pulled her hand away Jacob could see it was covered in fresh blood. The makeshift bandage wasn't holding and in his rush he hadn't bought any extra supplies. How could he have been so stupid? Jacob steadied himself to pick her back up again.

'No, Hood, forget it. I'd rather die right here than on the side of the road while you're trying to flag down some passing motorist.'

'Rachel, you're not going to die!'

Rachel gave an unlady-like snort. 'Use that big brain of yours, besides there are worse ways to go. I'd rather die out under a big blue sky with someone I love than all alone in a plastic room.'

Jacob's breath caught; did she just say 'love'? Reaching out he felt her cheek, it was cold and clammy. All that blood loss was sending her into shock.

'We had a good run, Hood, but I want you to know that it's not your fault. You can't fix everything.'

'Oh Rachel, Rachel.' Jacob pulled her closer, resting her head against his chest.

'I never wanted you to see this.' Rachel said. 'I made Felix promise when this day came he'd take you away. So you wouldn't have to see another friend dying.'

Jacob felt the tears streaming down his face. 'Don't, Rachel, don't leave me. Not like this, not now. There are so many things, so much I want to say to you. I l–'

'Jacob,' Rachel reached up and placed her fingertips over his mouth stopping the words. 'Can you do one thing for me?'

Jacob nodded.

Rachel smiled and caressed his face. 'Hood, answer your phone.'

* * *

Jacob jerked awake in his hotel room, his heart racing. He absently wiped away his tears as he sat up and looked about. Faint sunlight tried to seep through the drawn curtains and the room was filled with the type of silence that only rushes in to fill the void after a loud noise.

Glancing over at the hotel phone he saw a blinking light, indicating that he had a message. He was just about to reach out and pick the receiver up when his cell started to vibrate. Checking the number he took a deep breath before answering.

'Rachel?'

'_Why didn't you answer the phone?'_

'I was asleep.'

'_Oh,'_ any angry response from Rachel was quickly forgotten. Jacob's insomnia was so great that both Felix and Rachel regretted any time they accidently woke him up. _'Well Felix found a lead on that truck we're looking for. I assume you'll want to go with us and question the driver.'_

'Of course,' Jacob began looking around the room for his shoes.

'_I can't believe I'm chasing a truck over state lines on a Sunday because of some contaminated pork.'_

'People are very sick, Rachel, and besides it's not just about the pork, that company is using illegal immigrants their health could be at risk, too.'

'_Yeah that's all we need, a highly transient population spreading this thing across the country.'_

Jacob finally spotted his shoes where he had absently flung them across the room late last night. 'Exactly, we have to stop this _now_ before it gets any worse.'

Rachel sighed, _'You have five minutes to get down here.'_

'I've just woken up; I need at least thirty minutes.'

'_Try fifteen and not a minute more, don't make me come up there and kick the door in.'_

'Is that a good idea?' Jacob instantly regretted his words. Any hint that Rachel wasn't fully fit after her accident was usually met with icy silence.

'_I was cleared for duty months ago, Hood,'_ Rachel growled.

'I was more thinking how much the FBI would hate to pay for unnecessary damages.'

Jacob could hear Rachel snorting.

'_Fifteen minutes, Hood, or _you're_ paying for the door yourself.'_

'Good to have you back, Rachel.'

'_Fine, twenty minutes. I'll see you down in the parking lot.'_

Jacob hung up his phone and walked over to the window. Opening the curtains he stared out over the parking lot that Rachel had been talking about. Parts of his dream still hovered in the back of his mind.

So much could have gone wrong that day. So easily his nightmare could have become reality. There but for the grace of a god he didn't even really believe in it might have been Jacob Hood's future.

Jacob sighed deeply and turned away from the window. Now was not the time to think about might have beens. There were lives to save and good friends to count on. For now he was content that Rachel was still by his side, even after he had tried to send her away. Her stubbornness hadn't allowed him to wallow in self pity. They would face the future together, come what may. And tomorrow Jacob would ask Felix to teach him how to hotwire a car, just in case.


End file.
